20 Weird & Wonderful Facts About 1400s

In 1474, a chicken, mistaken for a rooster, laid an egg in Basel, Switzerland. The town then prosecuted it in court and later burned it alive as punishment for being found guilty of an unnatural crime.

In March or April of 1490, tens of thousands of people were likely killed by a meteor shower over China.

In 1440, a land sale treaty between the Pope and Florence accidentally left out a small strip of land around Cospaia. The people of the area promptly declared their independence and remained sovereign for nearly 400 years.

The 15th-century Islamic mosaics in Spain's Alhambra palace display a near-perfect understanding of mathematical logic and 16 of 17 types of symmetry identified by modern mathematicians.

In 1474, in the Sundernagar district in the state of Gujarat in India, Rajput Parmar community sacrificed more than 200 men to save an injured but escaped partridge bird from hunters. Since then killing of partridge is banned in that area.

In 1498, Charles VIII of France, eager to attend a tennis match, banged his head on a door frame. He died a few hours later as a result of the injury.

In 1420, the Siege of Prague was broken up in a counter-attack after 26 men and 3 women defended a strategic hill against 8000 Austrian knights.

Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales disappeared at the end of his rebellion in 1412 and managed to remain hidden despite a large bounty and an eventual pardon. His fate and location have remained a closely guarded family secret for over 600 years.

In 1428, Ethiopia proposed a union with Aragon by marrying the King’s grandson with the Ethiopian Emperor’s daughter, along with sending a group of artisans to spread Aragon influence. The King of Aragon originally sent 13 artisans to begin the process, but all of them perished on the journey.

Eberhard I, the Duke of Wuerttemberg (1445-1495) once was praised as the richest prince amongst the German princes, as he was said to be able to rest his head on the lap of every one of his subjects without having fear for his life or property.